Yeah. Up here in the Northeast, New England is basically Boston. All Massachusetts/New Hampshire/Rhode Island/eastern Connecticut of it. (Vermont and Maine are nowhere, and western Connecticut is NYC.)
Depends what you want. The pioneer valley (Amherst/Northampton/etc.) is incredibly beautiful. OTOH, there's not all that much to do. If you like outdoorsy stuff, hiking, woodlands, and rolling fields, Amherst is for you. If you want a bustling social scene and lots of people with common interests, stick to Boston. There are a couple of nice coffeeshops & bars in both Amherst and Northampton, but these are towns with a population of 7000 vs. 600,000 for Boston.
Personally, I can't stand living without some green in my life, so I loved Amherst. But I was in college, and it's rare that college students lack a social life. I have friends who stayed behind after graduation and some of them complained about being bored (though one of them ended up in Vermont instead, go figure).
